Jacob Black, An Everyday Hero
by TrulyYoursxo
Summary: AH/AU - Jacob Black is a regular guy who owns a soup kitchen that helps large amounts of people everyday, but when problems arise, how will this affect his business? Probably going to be short, I may add more as I go along.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is my first fanfiction, so be nice please. It was a midterm that I had to do and I wanted to see if it was any good. I hope all who read it enjoy it!!**

**DISCLAIMER: Seriously? Why on Earth would Stephenie Meyer be on Fanfiction? Exactly, I am not her nor do I own anything but the plot.**

Rolling out of bed and putting on his shoes, the young man thought of all that he could do that day. His mind was overwhelmed with all the possibilities of all that was available to him. After he looked in the mirror to check and make sure that his clothes were all matching and in order, he grabbed his keys and went out to his old beat up station wagon. He drove down the street and as he pulled into the familiar parking lot, his mouth turned into a smile. This was his favorite place to be.

He parked his car and walked into the building, greeting the people who were lined up waiting to come in, most of whom by name.

"Good morning Jacob!" Kate greeted him cheerfully as he entered the building. He had known Kate Denali almost all his life and it never ceased to amaze him how happy she always was.

"Good morning Kate," he replied, "How's everything looking this morning?"

"Just great, we got another shipment in, so hopefully this week will run smoother than last week." Jake mentally ran over last week, _Anything has to be better than last week, _he thought to himself. He looked around the room. He took in all that his hard work had gotten him and felt proud of his accomplishments. He took in the crème colored paint on the wall, the seemingly endless amounts of tables lined up waiting for people to sit at them, the rows of counters that would soon be full of food for those who truly needed it. He had run this place for only a few years and had already made so many connections with local supermarkets and warehouses that it seemed as if he was there his whole life.

He looked back over at his best friend and smiled. She had been just as excited for this project as he had been. From the moment he told her about his idea for starting a soup kitchen, she wanted to do everything she could to help, little did she know that she would end up working their with him.

He put on some gloves and started the routine he always does. It was one of those so-familiar-you-could-do-it-with-your-eyes-closed-and-hands-tied-behind-your-back routines. This is where he found true joy.

He was broken out of his thoughts when the front door opened. Seeing as how they were not to open for another two hours, he figured that he should check to see who it was. He removed his gloves and walked around to the front.

"Hello, sir" he greeted the man. He took in his appearance, it was hard to miss and seemed out of place in the building. He was wearing a navy blue suit with a white dress shirt and a matching tie. His shoes had that I-just-got-my-shoes-shined glow to them and looked out of place next to the worn and dull wood-floor. He had been planning on refinishing it, but closing for a week just didn't seem like an option. "How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a Mr. Jacob Black." His reply was short and harsh.

"Yes, I am Jacob, how may I help you," Jacob proceeded with caution, this man looked like he did not like to be messed with.

"I am here to inform you of a …" he hesitated, seemingly struggling with the words"…_predicament_.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I like to give a little reminder of what happened in the previous chapter. It will only be a line or two, but it helps refresh your memory =)**

**DISCLAIMER: Seriously? Why on Earth would Stephenie Meyer be on Fanfiction? Exactly, I am not her nor do I own anything but the plot.**

"I am here to inform you of a …" he hesitated, seemingly struggling with the words "…_predicament_. You see, you records show that you have been writing out your checks, but they have somehow managed to never actually reach anywhere. The money is withdrawn from your bank account, but never is transferred anywhere."

When he finished Jacob was shocked. He looked over at Kate, who had heard the whole thing, to see that her face mirrored his horrified expression. What would this mean for the soup kitchen? It helped so many each day, where would they go? They had never received any mail or phone calls telling them that they were late on payments, he always made sure that everything was sent out well before the deadlines. His mind was so clouded with all of these thoughts that it was hard for him to come up with a complete thought.

"What exactly does that mean? For the soup kitchen, I mean." Jacob asked hesitantly, almost not wanting to know the answer.

"Well, we have a few options. No one wants to see this place close, so we've spoken to the companies who are missing their money and they have extended the date, so our first option is to raise the money somehow. The second option is to find out who could possibly have embezzled the money and intercepted the mail. And the last is that you sell the place now and try to pay of the debt with the profit made from that. However, this leaves us with the problem of closing, which as I had mentioned earlier, no one wants."

Jacob was still in shock. He couldn't believe that someone would actually do this to him. That someone would steal money from an organization that tried to do everything for the people of the town. That someone could be so cruel and malicious.

"This is a lot to take in right now." Jacob mumbled under his breath, "Mr. … I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Oh I'm sorry, my name is Seth Clearwater."

"Mr. Clearwater –"

"Please, call me Seth"

_Alright then_, Jacob thought to himself. "Seth, I'm very sorry, but you can imagine how very overwhelming this is. I don't even have the slightest clue as to who it could have been." His world felt like it was slipping away and he couldn't control it. It was like a being on a really high roller coaster and not being able to contain the scream that emerges with the first drop.

Kate looked over at her best friend. She could see what Seth couldn't, the worry lines that plagued his forehead, how he was furrowing his eyebrows more and more by the second, how he pinched the bridge of his nose when he was concentrating or frustrated (in this case he was both), and how he was biting his lip so much that Kate was surprised it didn't have a hole through it yet. It worried her greatly and she did not like that she could not do anything to help. She watched as the bearer of bad news opened his mouth to speak again.

"Trust me Jacob, I may not understand, but I do sympathize." His words sounded honest, maybe he wasn't such a bad guy, maybe was actually a good guy who just stuck with the job of telling people the bad news. "I want to help in anyway I can, you just need to tell me which option you want to proceed with and we can try to work things out."

"Would it be alright if I took a few hours to think about it first?" Jacob asked. He was feeling so hopeless right now and it impaired any judgment he had.

"Absolutely," Seth held out his hand, "Here is my number so you can reach me." It was only then that I realized his business card was in his hand. He paused for a moment, "And here is the folder of all the bills that went unpaid." After I took it, he nodded his head and left.

It took me a moment to be able to move from the spot in which it had seemed like I was glued. I looked over at Kate who was staring worriedly at me. I tried to offer a smile, but it must have looked more like a frown because her eyebrows knitted even further together.

"What are we going to do?" Kate asked.

"I guess we are going to have to hold some sort of fundraiser. There's no way we can let this place close."

"But how on earth are we going to raise this much money in only a few weeks?" She had taken the folder from me and was looking over each bill. The stack seemed like it would never end. "If we had a few months, maybe, just maybe we could manage to scrape this up, but in only a few weeks?"

"We'll have to figure out something, but who on earth could have taken all that money _and_ intercepted the mail like that. It has to be someone who works here and has access to it. We know it wasn't us, but other than that, who is really capable of getting into the accounts?" Jacob started thinking aloud. "Maybe it was someone we don't know who just picked a random organization to steal from. Maybe we're not the only ones! I wonder if Seth would know if this happened to anyone else."

Kate seemed to have a light bulb go off above her head, "I know! We could send out another check and this time, because we are aware of what is going on, we could track it and see where it is actually. I bet we could get the authorities in on it too! Oh and…" Kate rambled on and Jacob started tuning her crazy idea out. She was nothing if not creative. "Jacob! Are you even listening to me?"

_Oh no,_ he thought, _she caught me!_ "Um, yeah, write a new check and track it."

"Not that part, the rest of it. I said I bet that Seth would know how to, or at least we could try and see if he knows. He must have some sort of clue as to how to go about it…" She trailed off and left the train of thought waiting for termination. She looked like she was plotting some sort of scheme. He knew her well enough to know that it would probably fail epically, but he didn't have the heart to tell her that.

"I'll call Seth and see what he thinks," Jacob told her. Kate just nodded and paid minimal attention as Jacob left, too wrapped up in her thoughts to even notice as he walked away.


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: Seriously? Why on Earth would Stephenie Meyer be on Fanfiction? Exactly, I am not her nor do I own anything but the plot.**

"I'll call Seth and see what he thinks," Jacob told her. Kate just nodded and paid minimal attention as Jacob left, too wrapped up in her thoughts to even notice as he walked away.

Jacob dialed the phone and waited for Seth to pick up.

"Seth Clearwater, how may I help you?"

"Hello Seth, it's Jacob, Jacob Black –" before Jacob could get another word, Seth was greeting him like they had been best friends for their whole lives.

"Jacob! How are you?" Seth replied. _Hmm, maybe this guy isn't as bad as I thought he was,_ Jacob thought to himself.

"Doing alright, all things considered. Kate had an idea after you left, she wanted to know if it was possible to trace a check if we wrote a new one to see if you could find where it goes." Seth was quiet for a moment. Just as Jacob was going to ask if he was still there when he started talking.

"Well, that just might work. It seems as if they have been doing this for a while, and if it was the same person – or group of people – then they have probably gotten sloppy. And if they have gotten sloppy that means they will leave a trail that we should be able to trace it. Tell Kate that was a brilliant idea! Although, if they haven't gotten sloppy yet, then we may not be able to get a hold of it and then that would mean you would be missing even more money."

"Do you think that it is even worth it to try?" Jacob asked. _Should we do it? Would we do it? Would we actually be able to pull it off? _He thought to himself. He prayed with everything he had in him that the answer would be a yes. This whole rollar-coaster-sea-sick-nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach was getting very old.

"I think that if we do it right, we could all of the money back and set up prevention blocks so that it could never happen again." Seth's response brought some hope back to his. _This will work out, this will work out, this will work out_, he kept repeating to himself.

"Thanks Seth. Should we start tomorrow?"

"Of course, and yes, I think tomorrow would be the perfect time to start." Seth answered.

"Alright, thanks again Seth, I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Jacob hung up feeling much better than before. Things were starting to look up. Kate must have seen the visible change on his face because hers brightened too.

"So did he like my idea? Did he?" Kate asked eagerly.

"Yes, he absolutely loved it! He will be here tomorrow to discuss it, work it out, and put it into action. I really have a good feeling about this Katie!"

"Katie? You haven't called me that since we were kids, all this stress must have caused you to lose your mind!"

"I can't help it, I just felt like everything was over, and now, even though I'm probably just getting too excited and it won't work out, but I just cant stand to think of this place closing. It helps so many people everyday, not to mention I've worked my whole life for it, this was my plan for life. Now it seems as if everything is being pulled away. I don't know what I would do if I lost this place seeing as how I never really had a back-up plan." Now it was Jacob's turn to ramble on. His mind was going so fast that he wasn't even sure if his sentences were making sense. He was just so happy that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Even if it didn't work, he would have given it his best try.


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: Seriously? Why on Earth would Stephenie Meyer be on Fanfiction? Exactly, I am not her nor do I own anything but the plot.**

The next morning came quickly and Seth met them at the soup kitchen. The three of them sat over papers for hours and hours, soon the day turned into night, and the were able to have accomplished there goal: the check was in the mailbox. Seth had set up a certain procedure so that could see where the money was deposited and where it was being transferred. Seth, Jacob and Kate were feeling extremely optimistic; maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Hopefully, in a few days this whole mess would be solved, but for now, everything was to go on business as usual.

Jacob had thought he had done a good job hiding his worry from the people who came in, but apparently he didn't seeing as how many of the regulars kept asking if everything was ok. One in particular, Alice, kept checking in at random times pretending she had forgotten something during the previous meal. The tenderhearted women was obviously checking in to make sure that he was all right. She decided that she would ask one last time and then give up. At this point, Jacob was so touched by her actions that he decided to tell her the basics so that she wouldn't have to worry.

"Well Alice, its nothing to worry about, just some problems that will hopefully be worked out in a few days."

"You don't sound very sure of that, dear. Tell me what's really going on here." With Alice's reply, Jacob could tell that she was not going to take some sort of short answer. So he brought her somewhere private told her everything; how the money went missing, how bills were never paid, and how they were at risk of having to close. At first, Jacob wondered if he was making the right decision of telling someone, but if there were anyone he trusted, it was this loving, grandmotherly figure. By the time he finished telling her the story, she had a sympathetic look on her face.

"Oh my! No wonder you looked so sullen the past few days. I'm sure that this has been very hard on you. Is there anything I can do to help?" Alice replied.

"Thank you very much, but don't worry Alice, I promise, everything will be fine." Jacob told her with a smile. She smiled back, but did not look convinced. She said goodbye, told him that she would see him tomorrow, reminded him that she was there if he needed anything and went on her way. It made him feel like a burden had been lifted off of him.

_Only a few more days,_ he thought to himself. And within a few days he got a phone call that changed everything.

"Jacob! You'll never guess what happened!" Seth said breathlessly over the phone. "We caught them! We caught the person who was embezzling the money! They've already been arrested."

"Really? That is so great! Who was it?" Jacob was curious, he wanted to know if it was someone they knew.

"A man by the name of James Crowley. Have you ever heard of him before?"

Jacob took a minute to think about it. The name didn't ring a bell at all. "Nope, I've never heard of him. Did he say to the police if he knew me or not?"

"He hasn't said anything yet, he wont say anything at all. We have all the evidence, now we just need him to plead guilty so that this won't take as long. But I'm afraid there is some bad news."

Jacob braced himself for the worst. "How bad is bad?"

"Just a little bad. You see, James had already spent the money he stole. The cops are looking into it now to see if James has some sort of collateral to compensate for the money or if he has any secret bank accounts where the money might be. It also turns out not only was he stealing from you, but from at least 4 others. But there is some good news too, the companies, in light of the situation, is allowing up to a year for you to pay back the debt with no interest. "

"I'm going to have to pay back four months worth of bills? Is this James guy going to get off scot-free?" I felt myself getting angered. Who was this guy anyway!

"No, he is getting major jail time and will have to pay you back somehow, eventually. The courts are going to settle a way where you get all your money back, and everyone else's too. The problem is, it was so much money that he stole means that it will take that much longer for him to pay off, especially if he is in jail."

"But he will pay it back?" Jacob inquired.

"Every penny." Seth answered. Jacob felt a little better.

"Alright, thank you so much Seth!"

"Of course Jacob, I'm so glad everything worked out." They hung up and Jacob immediately went to find Kate and tell her.

"Kate! Kate guess what!" Jacob hollered across the room to where Kate was standing. He was in luck! Alice was standing right next to her. "Alice you too!" They both looked over concerned, then, after seeing the smile on his face, realized that everything must be solved.

"They've caught him! Seth caught him!" The three of them could not have been any happier. It was like they were a few children on Christmas morning.

"See Jacob, everything worked out." Alice smiled brightly as she said it. "You were right, and I have to be honest, for a moment I was worried that you weren't. But look, you were honest and did everything you could to make sure that all of yours and Kate's hard work paid off. You made sure that the things that are most important to you were not harmed. And now, because of you, not only will you receive what was taken from you, but so will all the people had money stolen from them and didn't know what to do about it. Because of you, people who have been ripped off will be repaid for their hard work. You, Jacob Black, are a hero."

* * *

**=) That is the end! I'm actually thinking of making a sequel were he meets Nessie. I'm not quite sure, but I think that I will!**


End file.
